This invention relates generally to an air cleaning station designed for airborne use in pollution removal. More particularly, this invention relates to an air cleaning station that analyzes the pollution content of ambient air with sensor means, then utilizes automatic control means to direct ambient air from an intake air system to one or more selected air cleaning machines which effect pollutant removal while said air cleaning station is maintained in an airborne state by dirigible means. Effectiveness is enhanced because the control means automatically selects one or more of a plurality of different on-board air cleaning machines, using as its selection criteria, the qualities that each particular air cleaning machine offers for removing the particular pollutants identified by the sensor means.
The severity of the current air pollution crisis and the need for a new approach to pollution removal cannot be overstated. According to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), 4 out of every 10 Americans live in areas where the ambient air is often unhealthy to breathe. The U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment released a study estimating that 50,000 premature deaths annually in the U.S.A. and Canada are due to respiratory or cardiac problems attributed to air pollution. According to the South Coast Air Quality Management District of Calif., 1 in 10 people are extremely vulnerable to particulates from smokestacks, chimneys, diesel exhaust, blowing dust, etc. These particulates, which hang in the atmosphere to form a haze, are linked to cancer and present an extreme health threat to respiratory-impaired people.
The magnitude of pollutants released into our atmosphere yearly is staggering. In addition to the emissions from over 178 million motor vehicles, at least 2.4 billion pounds of toxic air pollutants are also released annually into the skies above North America. This ongoing fouling of our air manifests itself by triggering a host of destructive processes. Acid rain caused by air pollution threatens 9,000 lakes in 34 states. Air pollution, and in particular industrial chlorofluorocarbons, eat away earth's protective ozone layer at such a rapid rate that the EPA predicts millions of new skin cancer cases from an increase in ultraviolet radiation hitting the earth rather than being filtered out by ozone. Looming ominously ahead is the atmospheric greenhouse effect caused by air pollution, which, if unchecked, could lead to catastrophic droughts, glacier melting and subsequent flooding of coastal areas, and other disasterous effects.
A wide variety of air pollution control devices or air cleaning machines are already in use. Exemplary of such air pollution control devices are electrostatic precipitators, fabric filters and other filtration machines, wet scrubbers, mechanical particulate collectors, sorption process machines, and so on. However, the drawback of existing pollution control devices and methods is that current approaches are directed towards attempting to prevent additional pollutants from entering the atmosphere, rather than being focused on removing pollutants which have already entered the atmosphere. Prior air pollution control techniques attempt to neutralize air pollution while said pollution is in a zone defined between ground level and the height of industrial smokestacks. This is because the abovenoted pollution control devices are either land based, such as an electrostatic precipitator, or attached to the distal end of smokestacks, such as a scrubber. In general, the entire conventional approach of using land-based equipment to combat air pollution is grossly inadequate because, obviously, the majority of pollutants are suspended in the ambient air high above ground level, far beyond the range of pollution control devices which are conventionally employed. Applicants point to the ever worsening condition of our polluted atmosphere as proof that the current land-based strategy of air pollution control is outdated. What is needed is an entire rethinking of modern air pollution control strategies. The battleground for combatting air pollution must be moved into the sky itself- Whereas ground control of the release of additional pollutants into the atmosphere has been the thrust of man's efforts thus far, actual removal of existing pollution from high in the sky must now be undertaken. It is no longer merely enough to stem the flow of additional pollutants skyward; our present atmospheric state demands air pollution control strategies which provide for the positive removal of those pollutants which are already contaminating the skies--before our atmosphere is saturated with deadly toxins.
There exists, therefore, an urgent need for an air cleaning system which positions itself directly in smog, high above ground level. Such an air cleaning system should be transported aloft by flight means which do not require the burning of fossil fuels (and the subsequent accompanying polluting emissions) to achieve an airborne state. Moreover, such an airborne air cleaning system should have pilotable mobility for traveling directly into problem areas dense with pollutants, such as air pollution pockets created naturally by wind patterns and geography, or by chemical spills. Further, an airborne air cleaning system is needed which not only has the mobility to reach toxic clouds, but which also possesses the ability to hover indefinitely within a polluted area until clean-up is effected. Thus, yet another requirement is that such an airborne air cleaning system should be capable of remaining airborne for prolonged periods, preferably around-the-clock. Further still, due to the wide variety of pollutants which foul the atmosphere, an airborne air cleaning system is needed which provides a plurality of different air cleaning machines, then automatically activates one or more of whichever air cleaning machines are most appropriately suited for removing particular pollutants present in unhealthy concentrations. Thus, such an airborne air cleaning system should also provide sensor means for analyzing ambient air in order to detect the presence and/or concentration of particular pollutants. Moreover, such a needed airborne air cleaning system should not only produce a flow of purified air as an end product, but, ideally, should also harness this purified air flow as a secondary propulsion source which aids the primary flight means during steering, ascent and descent of the airborne system. Finally, an airborne air cleaning system is needed which accomplishes the above while not significantly adding noise pollution to the environment. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.